Carton blank feeder



Nov. 21, 1950 R. A BLooM CARTON BLANK FEEDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 21, 1946 INVENTOR RICHARD A. SL00 Nov. 2l, 1950 R. A. BLooM 2,530,544

' CARTON BLANK FEEDER Filed Aug. 21, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR R/CHARD A. BL 00H #IM/7 TORNE;

hasta! Nav. 21, 195o CARTON BLANK FEEDER Richard A.' Bloom, Chicago, Ill., asolgnor to National Biscuit Company, New

corporation of New Jersey Application Augier N21, 194s, serial No. 691.961

My invention pertains to carton blank feeders and has for its principal object to provide a feeder forcarton blanks that will operate With -certainty and uniformity to feed blanks at high speed to carton forming mechanism.

Heretofore, it has been the usual practice in forming cartons from cardboard blanks to feed the blanks to the forming machine by means of a reciprocating carriage. This carriage hasa pair of grippers that grip the bottom blanks of a stack in the instant that the carriage is stopped at one end of its stroke. The carriage then starts on its return or delivery stroke and slowly pulls the blank from the bottom of the stack. Due to static charges on the blanks, friction due to their rough surfaces, binding of the edges of the blanks caused by cutting multiple thickness of material and other causes, it is diilicult to start the bottom blank or break it loose from the stack andsnap it loose at once with no tendencyto ,Y l pull out the blank next above it.

Another important object of my invention,

therefore. is to provide a blank feeding mechanism wherein grippers moving continuously engage and withdraw a carton'from the hopper with a snap that frees it from the friction of the stack above. thereby doing away with the friction present when withdrawing cartons from a stopped position, as is d one on the reciprocating mechanisms that have been used heretofore.

.Another important object is to provide a blank feeding mechanism that will operate continuously in one direction 'at uniform speed to feed carton blanks in accurately timed relation to a carton forming means.

Another object is to provide a blank feeding mechanism that is driven at uniform speed in an endless path thereby doing away with the reciprocating carriage and pusher that have been used heretofore.

Another object is to provide a blank feeding mechanism wherein grippers moving in an endless path will operate to deliver successive carton blanks in accurately timed reation to a carrier 7 Claims. (Cl. 271-35) The above and other objects and advantages are attained by my invention, one embodiment of which `I have illustrated in .the accompanying drawings.

In carton blank feeding machines, as generally used heretofore, the bottom blank is withdrawn from a stack of blanks by grippers fixed to a reciprocating carriage. The grippers, after pulling out the bottom blank deliver it to reciprocat ing pusher bars which then advance the blank to the former where it is folded and locked into a carton, frequently being. inter-folded with a liner,v The speed of operation and accuracy of feed of such machines is limited because of the mass of the'reciprocating mechanism, including the gripper carriage and pusher bars. Because of the vibrations set up by these heavy'reciproy eating parts, such-machines cannot be relied upon to operate at speeds in excess of twenty to thirty carton blanks per minute, except on small size machines.

According to my invention. these reciprocating parts are replaced by gripper chains and taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2. showing the grippers about to close. Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the grippers closed; Figs. 6 and 7 are detail views showing how the grippers are mounted on the chains.

Referringrst to Fl'gs. 1, 2 and 3, the machine has a frame, including side members I0, II, connected by cross vbraces I2, I3 and I4. Brackets I5, I5 secured to the cross member I2 provide supports for a xed rear shaft I6 on which idler sprockets I1, I8 are rotatably mounted and around whichendless gripper chains I9, 2li pass. These chains are driven from sprockets 2|, 22, which are keyed to a shaft 23 journalled in bearings on brackets 24, 25 secured to cross member I3. The shaft 23 and chains I9, 20 are driven from a sprocket 26, keyed to shaft 23 and driven by a chain 21 passing around a. sprocket 28 on the main drive shaft 29 which is journalled in bearings on the side frame members I0, II.

The shaft 29 also carries a sprocket 30 which through a chain 3| drives a sprocket 3l keyed to a shaft 32 to which carrier chain sprockets 33. 34 are keyed. These sprockets drive two endless carrier chains 35, 33, which extend toward the rear oi' the machine on the outside of the gripper chains I3, 20 and at their rear ends pass around idler sprockets 31, 33 journalled on the fixed rear shaft 33.

A chain 40 driven by a sprocket 4I fixed on shaft 23 extends to the rear of the machine where it drives a sprocket 42 fixed to a shaft 43 that carries a cam 44 for raising and lowering the arm 45 for actuating the suction cup 45, (Fig. 1).

The suction cup 45 operates under the forward end of a hopper 43, which is adapted to hold a stack of carton blanks 41. Upon each rotation of the cam 44, the cup 45 is brought into contact with the lower face of the bottom carton blank in the stack which it then pulls down so that its forward edge may be grasped by grippers on the chains I9, 20 and snapped from the bottom of the stack by the rapidly moving grippers.

Each of the gripper chains I9, 20 carries a number of grippers, illustrated as four, which are adapted to grip the front edge of each carton blank as it is pulled down by the suction cup 45, snap it from the bottom of the stack and carry it forward with the gripper chains along their upper runs. These grippers are best shown in Figs. 4, 5, 6 and '1. Each gripper has a block 48 fixed to the chain and a movable jaw 49 which is pivoted to the chain and has a depending arm 50 to which one end of the coil spring I is connected, the other end of the spring being connected to a pin 52 on the gripper chain.

'Ihe grippers lie at one side of each of the chains I9, 20 and, as shown in Fig. 2, preferably lie between the two chains. A pair of cams 53, 54 are fixed to the shaft I6 and lie in the path of the depending arms 50 so that as the grippers pass from their lower runs to their upper runs around the sprockets I1, I3 the cams will open the gripper jaws against the tension Vof the springs 5I, as shown in Fig. 4. The grippers on the two chains I3, 20 are in alignment across the chains so that they will operate together in pairs, one on each chain. When the grippers reach the top of the sprockets I1, I3 and are at the start of their forward run, the suction cup 45 is actuated to pull the front edge of a carton blank 41 down against the fixed block 43asbestshowninFig-4. Atthistime anarm 50 of each of the movable jaws of onepair is riding on one of the cams 53, 54 so that the Jaws are held open against the pull of the spring 5I. As the upper runs of the chains now continue on their movement to the right, Fig. 4, the rear ends of the levers 50 will ride oil from cams 53, '34 and the jaws 49 will be snapped into closed position almost instantaneously before the blocks 43 can move from under the edge of the blank, as shown in Fig. 5, with the forward edge of the blank 41 gripped between the fixed and movable jaws. The cams 53, 54 are adjustable so that the release of the levers 50 may be accurately timed to varying conditions and to compensate for wear. By the time the jaw 49 closes, the block 43 will have moved forward under the blank 41 so that the forward edge of the block 43 is substantially even with the forward edge of the blank, as shown in Fig. 5.

With the blank held by the grippers, as shown in Fig. 5, the gripper chains continue their frward motion snapping the bottom blank loose u shown in Fig. 1.

The shaft 23 carries two circular cams 51, 53 which are in alignment with the cams 53, 54 and with the depending arms 50 of the movable jaws. As the grippers approach the end of their upper run, the arms 50 strike the cams51, 58 which open the grippers and release the carton blank which then rests on supporting bars 59`that extend longitudinally of the machine and lie between and slightly above the chains 35, I9, 2|! and 35. These bars are indicated in Figs. l and 3, but have been omitted from Fig. 2 so as not to obscure the driving mechanism.

The carrier chains 35, 36 are parallel to the gripper chains and run in the same direction. Shaft 39 lies between the shafts I6. and 23 so that the two sets of chains overlap in part on their upper runs.

The chains 35, 33 have a number of pushers from the stack and carrying it forward, as

80 which are equally spaced on the two chains and are in alignment across the chains so as to operate in pairs. Preferably the speed of the chains 35, 36 is greater than that of the gripper chains and in the form of the invention illustrated there are three sets of pushers on these chains. The parts are timed so that a pair of pushers will pass from their lower to their upper runs around the sprockets 31, 38 so as to reach the top of the sprockets and start on their upper runs a short distance behind the rear edge of a blank that has just been withdrawn from the bottom of the stack. These pushers will have substantially caught up to the rear edge of the blank at the time that the grippers release it and start down around the sprockets 2|, 22. The pushers extend above the bars 59 and engage the rear edge of the carton blank near its outer edges since the two chains 35, 36 lie outside of the gripper chains. These pushers then carry the blank forward under the guide bars 6I', and under a clutch control lever (not shown) which operates the clutch that controls the cut-off and feed of the lining paper that will be folded with the blank to form a lined carton. The pushers carry the blank forward until they pass around the sprockets 33, 34 when they deliver the blank in proper position with respect to the forming machine so that when it is aligned with the lining paper the two may be operated upon by the forming machine to form a lined carton in the usual manner.

Shaft 23 is driven constantly at uniform speed so that both the gripper chains and carrier chains move constantly at uniform speeds which does away with the heavy reciprocating parts that have been used heretofore in withdrawing the blanks from the hopper and delivering them by intermittent reciprocating motion to the carton former.

The shaft 32 is supported in bearings on brackets 52, 53 secured to the cross frame member I4.

In Fig, 1, I have not shown the connection of the suction pipe and its control valves to the suction cups 45 because this is a usual construction in carton blank feeding machines with reciprocating heads. However, 54 shows the suction pipe broken oif, which if continued would be connected by the usual flexible pipe to the suction cups 45 with an intermediate control valve. Norhave I shown the clutch control lever that regulates the feed of the lining paper, because that l may be the same as is commonly used in reciprocating head feeders, and

per se is not part of the present invention.

wem

While I have illustrated described what I' f 'upper-runs, meansfor pulling down the front now believe to be the best form of my invention,

it wm be understood. that the' invention is caof many modiilcations and adaptationsand the illustration and description are to be taken only as illustrations of the invention and notas limitations thereon.

In the operation of the machine, the hopper Il is kept nlled with a stack ofA4 carton blanks. vAs each pair of grippers reaches the top of the sprockets Il, il where they are just starting their v' forward runs, the suction cups 4I have been raisedbycamllandlowered'soastcpullthe forward edge of the lower blank down against the rapidly moving blocks Il. The grippers then close on the forward edge of the blank-and as theyeontinue to move forward on the upper run of the chains they snap the blank loose and pull it forward with them. y As the rear edge of the blankpasses the sprockets Il, 38, a pair of pushers Il come up around the sprockets behind the blank ready to engage it and carry it forward as soon as it is released and the grippers start down-around the forward sprockets 2|, 22. The pushers then carry the blank forward and deliver it'to the forming machine.

Because there are no heavy reciprocating parts and the motion of the grippers and pushers is continuous at uniform speeds, the machine can be operated to feed blanksl much faster than has been possible heretofore, and much larger blanks can vbe handled than is practicable with a recipi dos. wnatr claim is:

1. In a machine of the class described, the

combination of a frame, an endless gripper chain mounted thereon with upper and lower runs,

spaced grippers on said chain, an endless carrier chain mounted on said frame with upper and lower runs, said gripper and carrier chains being parallel with their upper runs moving in the same direction and overlapping in part, spaced pushers mounted on said carrier chain, means for driving said chains continuously at uniform speeds, a hopper for holding a' stack of carton blanks over the gripperchain where it rises from its lower to its upper run, means for pulling down the forward edge of the bottom blank in the stack as a gripper rises to the upper run of the chain, means for actuating the gripper to grasp the ford f ward edge of said bottom blank and carry it forward over the overlapping part of the carrier chain, means for' actuating the gripper as' it reaches the end of its upper run to release the blank and leave it over the carrier chain, and

means for timing the carrier chain so that one of, said pushers will engage the blank and carry it forward when it has been released by the gripper.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a frame, a pair of endless gripper chains mounted thereon with upper and lower runs, spaced grippers on said chains, the grippers being in alignment across the chains so that they edgeofthebottomblankinthestackaseach pair of grippers rises to the upper run, means 101 Glihi the P111' 0I Krippen to gril) said iront .edgeasillieystarttheirupperrunandpullthe blank'fromthestack,saidgrippercarryingsaid V.blank over the overlapped part of said 'carrier chains. means .for causing said grippers to' rechains mounted thereon' with upper and lower runs. spaced grippers on said chains, the griPDtrs being in alignment across the chains so that they move together in spaced pairs, a pair of endless carrier chains mounted on said frame and having upper and lower runs parallel to said gripper chains and lying outside thereof, the upper runs of all of said chains running in the same direction and the carrier chains in part overlapping the gripper chains, pushers spaced apart on said carrier chains and being in alignment across the chains, a hopper for holding a stack of carton blanks supported on the frame over the gripper chains where they rise from their lower to their upper runs, means for pulling down .the front edge oi the bottom blank in the stack as each pair of grippers rises to the upper run, means for causing the pair of grippers to grip said front edge as they start their upper run and pull the blank from the stack, said grippers carrying said blank over the overlapped part of said carrier chains, means for causing said grippers to release said blank as the grippers reach the end of their upper run and leave it over said carrier chains and means for driving said carrier and gripper chains continuously in timed relation so that a pair of pushers will engage the rear edge of said blank when it has been released by the grippers and carry it forward, said carrier chains being longer and driven at higher speed than said gripper chains. 1

4. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a frame, a front shaft having two driving sprockets journalled in said frame, a fixed rear shaft parallel thereto and having two idler sprockets joui-nailed thereon, a pair of endless gripper chains driven by said sprockets. grippers carried by each of said chains in aligned pairs, each gripper having a' block fixed to its chain and a movable jaw pivoted thereon. each movable-Jaw having an arm extending beyond its chain on the side opposite the fixed block, a spring connected to each arm and chain acting to hold its movable jaw closed against its associated block; said gripper chains rising from their lower to upper runs around said rear shaft, cams engaging said arms to open the .laws as the grippers pass from their lower to upper runs around said idler sprockets, a hopper for holding a stack of carton blanks mounted on said frame with its front end over said rear shaft, means for pulling the forward edge of the bottom. blank down against said blocks as they reach the tops of the idler sprockets, means for releasing said -jaws whereby the springs will close the jaws to grip the blank at the beginning of the top run of the tire, described, the combination of a frame, a pair of endless gripper..

chains and carry it forward with the chains, and means for'driving said chains continuously.

5. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a frame. a front shaft journalled in said frame and having two driving sprockets fixed thereon, a fixed rear shaft parallel thereto f opening said jaws against the tension of the yieldable means as they pass around the rearsprockets from their lower to upper runs, a hopper for holding a stack of blanks with their forward edges above said rear shaft, means for pulling the forward edge cf the bottom blank vdown against the xed blocks when they reach the top of the rear sprockets, said cams releasing the movable jawswhereby they are closed by the yieldable means to grip the blank and pull it from the bottom of the stack and carry it forward, and means for driving Isaid chains continuously at uniform speed.

6. In a machine of the class described', the combination of a frame, a front shaft journalled in said frame and having two driving sprockets fixed thereon, a fixed rear shaft parallel thereto and having two idler sprockets rotating thereon, a pair of endless gripper chains driven by said driving sprockets with their upper runs passing from the rear to the front shaft, grippers carried by said chains in aligned pairs, each gripper comprising a block fixed to the chain and a movable jaw, yieldable means tending to close the jaw on the block, cams opening said jaws against the tension of the yieldable means as they pass around the rear sprockets from their lower to upper runs. a hopper for holding a stack of blanks with their forward edges above said rear shaft, means for pulling the forward edge of the bottom blank down against the fixed blocks when they reach the top of the idler sprockets, said z cams releasing the movable jaws as they reach the tops of the idler sprockets whereby they are closed by the yieldable means to grip the blank and snap it from the bottom of the stack and carry it forward, means for driving said chains continuously at uniform speed, and means for opening the movable jaws to release the blank when the gripper chains reach the forward end of their upper runs.

7. In a machine of the class described. the combination of a frame, a front shaft Journalled insaid frame and having ntwo driving sprockets fixed thereon, a fixed rear-shaft parallel thereto and having two idler sprockets rotating thereon, a pair of endless gripper chains driven by said driving sprockets with their upper runs passing from the rear to the 'front shaft, grippers carried by said chains in aligned pairs, each gripper comprising a block fixed .to the chain and a movable jaw, yieldable means tending to close the jaw on the block, cams opening said jaws against the tension of the yieldable means as they pass around the rear sprockets from their lower to upper runs, a hopper for holding a stack of blanks with their forward edges above said rear shaft, means for pulling the forward edge of the bottom blank down against the fixed blocks when they reach the top of the idler sprockets, said cams releasing the movable jaws as they reach the top of the idler sprockets whereby they are closed by the yieldable means to grip the blank and pull it from the bottom of the stack and carry it forward, means for driving said chains continuously at uniform speed, a pair of carrier shafts mounted in said frame, one of said carrier shafts lying between said gripper shafts and the other forward of the front gripper shaft, sprockets on said carrier shafts outside of the gripper chain sprockets, endless carrier chains driven by said carrier sprockets and in part overlapping said gripper chains. means for driving the carrier chains in the same direction as the gripper chains. pushers fixed to said carrier chains, said driving means being timed to cause a pair of pushers to rise to their upper run behind a blank that is being carried forward by the grippers before the grippers' reach the forward end of their upper run, and means for opening the movable jaws to release the blank when the grippers reach the forward end of their upper run, whereby the blank will be engaged and carried forward by the carrier hains.

RICHARD BLOOM.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Swift Nov. l, 1927 Number 

